Keith Ellison has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives since taking office on January 4, 2007. The Fifth District includes the City of Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs.

Ellison is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). He previously served two terms representing Legislative District 58B in the Minnesota State House of Representatives, from 2003 to 2007.[1]

Minneapolis Riots

In the wake of the Minneapolis riots in May 2020 during the 2020 Riots, Keith Ellison held a press conference on May 30 with other "community leaders" where he supported the people who were ostensibly protesting the death of George Floyd, and claimed outside elements were responsible for infiltrating the [2]

"People that are trying to tarnish the reputations of the noble protest for justice are out there trying to mix in with the crowd so that people don't just say 'oh look all those protests are bad, their cause can't be just, they're just out there causing trouble.' ...We know that the noble, just aims of the protestors are righteous and good. But we also know that some evil elements are literally defusing themselves with the protest to destroy and cause arson so the whole community has a low opinion of the protest. Because they are not for justice for Mr. Floyd - They're against it!"

The community leaders denounced systemic racism that they say have long contributed to inequality and tensions, and said outside anarchists were intent on causing destruction.

“We cannot watch our brothers being murdered and, then, on top of that, watch our communities being demolished and then trying to blame us,” said Osman.

Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos MN, a nonprofit, spoke about how minority business owners on Lake Street, the heart of the Minneapolis Latino community, sought to defend their livelihoods.

Berniecrat

Keith Ellison is a Berniecrat, is a term used for those democrats (generally) running for office who have expressed support of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.[3]

Background

Keith Ellison, was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to Minnesota in 1987 to attend the University of Minnesota Law School, where he earned his law degree in 1990.[4]

Parents

Keith Ellison's father, Leonard Ellison, Sr., was a psychiatrist, an atheist, and a hard-ass who quizzed his sons on current events and drove them to Gettysburg to walk the battlefield every Easter. Leonard was a Republican, not an activist. While he once helped to integrate a sailboat race run by an all-white Detroit yacht club, he mostly believed in nudging a racist system through relentless achievement. The Ellison boys were expected to become either doctors or lawyers. They all did.

If his trajectory was ordained by his father, Ellison’s worldview bore the imprint of his mother, Clida Ellison, a devout Catholic from a Louisiana Creole family. The congressman’s maternal grandfather was a voting rights organizer in Natchitoches. Clida was sent to a boarding school for safety; the Ku Klux Klan once burned a cross outside their house.[5]

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wayne State University - 1987

Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School - 1990

Student activism

After graduating from high school in 1981, he majored in economics at nearby Wayne State University, moving out of his leafy neighborhood and into a one-bedroom apartment in the city’s crack-ravaged Cass Corridor.

Ellison’s first brush with controversy came a few months into his freshmen year. After joining the student newspaper, the South End, he persuaded the editor to publish a cartoon featuring five identical black men dribbling a basketball alongside a man in a Klan robe who was clutching a club. Above it was a question: “How many Honkies are in this picture?” It was meant to poke fun at racial caricatures, but students didn’t see the humor. An African American classmate stormed into the newspaper’s office to confront him—a scene Ellison breezily recounted in a follow-up column mocking the outcry. His critics were “still living in the Jim Crow era,” Ellison wrote. The firestorm made the pages of the Detroit Free Press.

In the months to follow, friends noticed a change in Ellison. “He seemed to be a little more introspective, a little more circumspect,” says Mary Chapman, a Detroit writer who worked on the South End.

Increasingly, Ellison devoted his energy to anti-apartheid activism. When Bernard Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder after shooting four black men on a New York City subway, Ellison warned, “[I]t won’t be long before police officers, old ladies, weekend survival gamers, and everyone else considers it open season on the brothers.”[6]

In the hopes of mending fences, the university organized a series of conversations between black students and Jewish groups. Ellison could be deferential at these meetings. He thankedd Jewish students for sticking up for black students’ right to host controversial campus speakers—even if they had denounced those speakers—and suggested working together on common political causes. But he also insisted the charges that Ture was racist were unfounded. Michael Olenick, a Jewish student who clashed with Ellison and who was the opinions editor at the Daily, recalled Ellison maintaining that an oppressed group could not be racist toward Jews because Jews were themselves oppressors. “European white Jews are trying to oppress minorities all over the world,” Olenick remembers Ellison arguing. “Keith would go on all the time about ‘Jewish slave traders.'” Another Jewish student active in progressive politics recalled Ellison’s incredulous response to the controversy over Zionism. “What are you afraid of?” Ellison asked. “Do you think black nationalists are gonna get power and hurt Jews?”

At law school, Ellison was already laying a foundation for his shift to politics. He was becoming known as an organizer, with a flair for publicity. At the beginning of 1989, two incidents solidified his growing reputation. On January 25, as part of a series of raids on suspected crack storehouses, police tossed a stun grenade through the window of an apartment building in North Minneapolis. Two elderly black residents died in the resulting blaze. No drugs were found, and none of the men arrested at the building were subsequently charged. A grand jury declined to indict the offending officers.

Ellison and a few students organized a protest over the lack of prosecutions, but the day before their rally, another incident happened at the downtown Embassy Suites. The hotel was a hangout spot for college students, and on that night two parties were happening on the same floor. One was a kegger hosted by a group of white students. The other was a birthday party attended by African American students. It was a low-key gathering; one woman had brought her toddler. But when police responded to a noise complaint about the kegger, they busted up the birthday instead.

Partygoers alleged that the cops had called them “niggers.” One student at the party, a Daily reporter named Van Hayden, told me an officer had dangled him over the edge of the sixth-floor railing. He left in handcuffs, with a broken nose and a few bruised ribs.

The next day, after the students were released, they joined Ellison at the demonstration against police brutality. A few days later, Ellison led about 75 people in a march to City Hall, where they stormed a City Council meeting, forcing officials to yield the floor to Ellison for a 10-minute speech. By then, Ellison was organizing several protests a week and holding press conferences to pressure Minnesota’s attorney general to launch a state investigation into the raid. Ellison demanded “public justice.” “It was a mini-Ferguson before anyone had heard of Ferguson,” Hayden told me.

Ellison envisioned a unified front of young black people, white progressive students, organized labor, and American Indians pushing back against the evils of capitalism and white supremacy. “The more the right attacks, the more we have to respond.”

Ellison and Chris Nisan’s protests did win a victory, albeit a limited one. Four of the five students arrested at the hotel were acquitted of their misdemeanor charges, and Minneapolis set up an independent, if weak, review board to investigate police brutality claims. In 1990, Ellison helped launch the Coalition for Police Accountability, which organized community meetings and published a quarterly newspaper, Cop Watch.[7]

Heroes

Ellison joined the anti-Apartheid group on campus, the Black Student Union and worked on the South End, writing about "justice and equality."

Post college activism

Two years out of law school, Ellison ran for a seat on a city commission that controlled $400 million in development funding. Ellison’s slate stunned observers with its organization, bringing in three busloads of Hmong residents to vote in a race few people knew existed. North Minneapolis now controlled seven of eight seats.

Around this time, Ellison began attending a book club led by a prominent history professor at Macalester College who placed an emphasis on reclamation—the idea that whatever gains African Americans made would have to come through their own efforts. “The same way that our ancestors laid something down for us, we got to lay something down for the people who come next,” is how Resmaa Menakem, a friend of Ellison’s who was also in the club, described the theme. In practice, this meant building institutions—schools, civic groups, nonprofits—capable of boosting and protecting the community.

During Black History Month in 1993, Menakem and Ellison guest-hosted a segment on the black community radio station KMOJ about James Baldwin and Malcolm X. It evolved into a weekly show called “Black Power Perspectives” that lasted for eight years. The callers forced Ellison to think and argue on his feet and at times keep his emotions in check. Islam was a particularly volatile subject. White supremacists frequently called in, and Ellison once got so agitated he had to leave the studio.

Ad Hoc Committee on Police Brutality

Legal Rights Center

In 1993, after a pit stop at a white-shoe law firm, Lindquist and Vennum, Ellison landed a job as executive director of the Legal Rights Center, a nonprofit focused on providing indigent defense in the city’s African American, Hmong, and American Indian communities. (One of the group’s founders represented Russell Means and Dennis Banks after their 1973 standoff at Wounded Knee.) Ellison still didn’t shy away from controversy.

He partnered with a former Vice Lords gang leader named Sharif Willis to tackle police brutality—an effort that fell apart when Willis held 12 people up at gunpoint at a gas station. (Ellison has called the alliance “naive.”) But he made a name for himself on tough cases. His aggressive legal tactics were a lot like his approach to political organizing. “Some lawyers will spend most of their time in the back room trying to convince not only their client but also the prosecutor to make a deal—Keith was kind of the opposite,” says Bill Means, Russell’s brother and an early supporter of the Legal Rights Center. “He’d be filing motions five, six at a time on a traffic case.”[12]

Ture speech

Ellison introducing Ture

1990–Ellison participates in the sponsorship of the anti-Semitic speech by Kwame Ture given at the University of Minnesota Law School (“Zionism: Imperialism, White Supremacy or Both?”). Ellison rejects the appeal of Jewish law students to withdraw sponsorship of the lecture.[15]

Vice Lords gang

1992–Ellison appears as speaker at demonstration against Minneapolis police with Vice Lords leader Sharif Willis following the murder of Officer Haaf by four Vice Lords gangsters in September.

1993–Ellison leads demonstration chanting “We don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace” in support of Vice Lords defendant on trial for the murder of Officer Haaf. Ellison attends Gang Summit in Kansas City with Willis.[17]

NLG speech

The various themes of Ellison's public commitments and associations all came together in a February 2000 speech he gave at a fundraising event sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of the far-left National Lawyers Guild, on whose steering committee he had served. The event was a fundraiser for former Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Soliah after her apprehension in St. Paul (under the name "Sara Jane Olson") for the attempted murder of Los Angeles police officers in 1975.

Ellison weirdly referred to Soliah/ Olson as a "black gang member" (she is white) and thus a victim of government persecution. He described her as one of those who had been "fighting for freedom in the '60s and '70s" and called for her release. (She subsequently pleaded guilty to charges in Los Angeles and to an additional murder charge in Sacramento; she is serving time in California.) Still toeing the Nation of Islam line, he recalled "Qubilah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, [who] was prosecuted in retribution against Minister Farrakhan." He also spoke favorably of cop killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur. (Shakur has been on the lam in Cuba since 1984; last year she was placed on the FBI's domestic terrorists list with a one million dollar reward for her capture.)[18]

At the time of the fundraiser, Soliah/Olson had been a fugitive from justice for 25 years, avoiding prosecution on charges related to the attempted pipe bombing of Los Angeles police officers in 1975. Soliah/Olson had been apprehended on the Los Angeles charges at her home in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul in 1999.

In October 2001, Soliah/Olson pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing explosives with intent to commit murder in the long-pending Los Angeles case. In January 2002 Soliah/Olson and four other SLA members were charged with the murder of Myrna Opsahl in Sacaramento in the Crocker National Bank case. Soliah/Olson’s participation in the SLA’s Crocker National Bank robbery/murder had long been a matter of public record. Soliah/Olson pleaded guilty to the murder charge in November 2002.

Following her apprehension, support for Soliah/Olson became a cause of the hardcore radical left. Ellison’s support for Soliah/Olson was notable, as was his demagogic denunciation of law enforcement authorities seeking justice for vicious crimes.

Good evening, thanks for inviting me. Let me say that I think there’s an idea that young people are not attuned to the 60’s. And, that the 60’s and 70’s are ancient history. That they’ve passed and they’re gone. I want to submit to you that I can’t accept that as reality. I want to submit to you that the 90’s and 80’s are nothing but part 2 of the 60’s and the 70’s. And, I suggest that to you because of the few things that we can observe.

Don’t you remember Quibilah [sic] Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, was prosecuted in retribution against Minister Farrakhan – this game that was played out? Jijaga Pratt recently released. Ruben Carter recently released. Mumia Abu Jamal. For the people who want to incarcerate Sara Jane Olson, ain’t nothing changed.

As a matter of fact, they want to settle scores with Sara Jane Olson and others who were fighting for freedom in the 60’s and 70’s. What I’m saying to you is that, really, the 60’s and the 70’s were only a blip in the data in the minds of the people who govern this society that we live in. To the powerful,they were an aberration. They were a time when people came together: people coming out of World War II; black people needing to have some rights in the country after having 400 years of oppression, slavery, and segregation; white people coming to a realization that it’s better to be a part of humanity than over humanity.

This was a confluence of a time when people came together and DID beat back the things that America was always based on. In the minds of the people who want to prosecute Sara Jane Olson, these people feel that the gains that we made have got to be beat back, and the very idea of, say for instance, black people having civil rights, has got to be obliterated with (obviously) the criminal justice system and incarceration. Think about what it means to a whole population when a significant number – 1/3 of all the men-are going to one time be incarcerated – what impact does it have on the 2/3’s that aren’t? [reference to Bernardine Dohrn’s citation that 1 in 3 black males born today will spend at least some portion of their life in prison.]

It’s like an anchor on a very small boat. You understand what I’m saying? The idea that the people who want to prosecute Sara Jane Olson have, well,they have a “June Cleaver” concept of what women are supposed to be about. They have a “June Cleaver” idea that Sara Jane Olson, women in general, were supposed to be in the kitchen cooking -SOMETHING. Right? And are NOT supposed to be engaged in political protest, laying out political thought, and certainly not breaking out of some concrete stereotype or image that they had. In the 60’s, when we fought for public housing: housing for people to live in, not shanty shacks or sugar ditches, and ghettos in Detroit, Chicago, so on.

When we fought for public housing and extended housing for poor people, this is offensive to the type, to the mentality that would prosecute Sara Jane Olson, which is why, when the 14 pastors over there in North Minneapolis stood in front of the bulldozers, they had to be prosecuted. You understand what I’m saying?

So what I’m submitting to you is that this is just a later chapter. We should not let them put the 60’s in some sort of historical time warp. And that it’s clear that whatever we may make of the 60’s and 70’s, that the people who want to prosecute Sara Jane Olson have not forgot about anything. Bernardine made the point better than anyone so far. This is not about justice. This is not about accountability, this is not about public safety. THIS is about SYMBOLISM. This is about MAKING A POINT. This is about saying to you and to me that we are going to get you if you ever try to stand against what we’re about. WE’RE GOING TO GET YOU. And we’re going to lock you up and we don’t care how long it takes, we’re going to get you. There might be people who get book deals, or there might be private revenge, there might be all these things, but no prosecution like this would really float unless it had a very important, symbolic meaning that tied it together for the people involved in it. And it is the idea that the people who fought for social justice and to elevate humanity in the 60’s and 70’s were WRONG! They were wrong and we’re going to prove it because we’re going TO LOCK HER UP. That’s what it’s about.

You know, I was asked to speak about white crime hysteria and black gangs. I’m a trial lawyer. I tried five cases since October, and I can tell you this, there are some startling similarities between my client and Sara Jane Olson. Let’s start with being a member of a stigmatized and vilified group, so stigmatized, so vilified, that if you even mention their name in association with this particular defendant, then conviction is all but guaranteed. This person is a Blood, they’re a Vice Lord, they’re a Gangster Disciple, they are a 4-corner hustler, whatever, and unless you’re willing to dig in there and seriously get down there with this case you might as well start talking about, “Well, the sentencing guidelines say that if you plead guilty to this…[Laughter]….you know…we might be able to shave off a few months here or there.” Do you understand what I’m saying?

My point is that I remember the SLA. [I was 12-years-old when it hit the news in 1974]. I remember the name, I remember the made-for-TV movie with Patty Hearst who was “taken away by the SLA” and by this black guy named Cinque, who strutted around and was real scary. And clearly these people were “bad to the bone.” And as I began to read about the SLA, they were talking about rights for poor people… I mean I’m not trying to say the SLA is – I don’t even know enough about the SLA to tell you about the SLA, but I can tell you what they stated what they were in FAVOR OF: it had to do with fighting poverty and fighting racism and stuff like that. I’m not even here to tell you how they did it because I don’t know. But I can tell you what they (the government) claim they have stood for, has not even met the light of day in this whole conversation. What are they FOR? What are they about? It’s the same way with MY clients, the groups they’re involved in. Nobody ever knows what it means to BE a Blood, because they’ve already said this is “just evil.” That’s ALL you need to know. “They’re bad.” And same with the SLA. The SLA has been completely vilified and we know nothing about it. Absolutely NOTHING. They don’t tell us ANYTHING about these organizations; just the label is good enough.

The expense my clients go through, now you would think if you watch television (which is the worst place to get information about anything) you would really be under the impression that all black gang members have a “big gangster knot of cash” in their pockets derived from massive sales of drugs. The last two years that I have been in private practice, I can tell you that I am living proof that they ain’t got any money! These folks scrimp and save, and you know who shows up at their trial? Their mama.

Who said mama? You are dead on. Mama. Maybe baby’s mama. But never the crew. They’re not there. My clients have their parents borrow money, scrimp, save, do exactly what you’re doing – have fund raisers, maybe sell plates of BBQ chicken so Junior can get an attorney. And like many of my clients, Sara Jane Olson has a public defender. Do you understand what I’m saying? Because she cannot afford to pay for her defense all by herself. Do you understand what I’m saying? I mean the reality is, Sara Jane Olson, basically – is a black gang member – as far as I can see. [much applause]

On my way over here, those of you from the Twin Cities know that certain parts of town mean this, and certain parts of town mean that. Well, I’m from North Minneapolis and you’re you all know what that’s supposed to mean if you’re from Minneapolis, and I had a hard time finding my way over here because I don’t get over here that much, but you know, what I found as I got over here…that the barriers that we build between each other are really barriers of the mind and ones we create, because in a lot of the cases that I’ve represented people in, I’ve seen people like Marv Davidov [long-time local activist] there, and the defense committee for the person, and other folks in this room and I think, just like the people who want to come together and lock up Sara, WE need to come together and free Sara. And all the Sara’s because she’s not the only one. I am praying that Castro does not get to the point where he has to really barter with these guys over here because they’re going to get Assata Shakur, they’re going to get a whole lot of other people, they just want to get them so badly. They just want to throw them away. And so, I hope the Cuban people can stick to it because the freedom of some good decent people depends on it.

We do live in a society of cynical “personal responsibility-type” lingo. You’ve heard people say “personal responsibility.” That’s what everyone is into. They don’t mean them. They mean YOU. They mean OTHER PEOPLE need to take responsibility. Do you understand what I mean? They mean other people. And it might be because they’re overworked and underpaid – there?s probably good reasons for it…Part of this idea is that people are actually upset with women because they are out in the work force. And people don’t know that most men and women would like to be home with their families and are forced out there because of the corporate culture that we live in, because it takes two to earn a wage for a family these days.

We live in a society of blame, we live in a society where most people want to point their finger at you or at me, or make me or you are personally responsible, [when] really [they] need to point to the government and the corporate culture we live in and make them responsible.

So I’m going to sit down now, but I’m going to ask you to understand and remember that the fight that we’re engaged in to support Sara Jane Olson is a worthy one, that’s it’s worth your time and it’s worth your money and that, while TV and the popular media is pushing the aesthetics of the 1960?s and 70’s, that “70’s SHOW,” you know, haven’t you seen the imagery all over? They don’t want to push the POLITICS.

We need to pull the politics into the equation, because I’m telling you, believe me when I tell you, one reason they’re incarcerating all these young black men, because they know it was all these young black men who sat down. Right? In the 60’s, you know? It was young black men and women who freed Nelson Mandela in South Africa. They know that it was young black men with young white men, Native American; all of us who created the movement that literally changed the entire society that we live in. And it’s going to take us all to create a culture of freedom. And so, I just want to welcome you for your contribution to the struggle and thank those of you who have been maintaining the struggle over the years, and say, “Hey, free Sara!”[19]

Defending terrorists

In 2000, Ellison publicly defended violent, fringe elements of the far-left. He appeared at a fundraiser that year for domestic terrorist Sara Jane Olson, a member of the self-styled revolutionary group the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), which is best known for kidnapping heiress Patricia Hearst. Olson was apprehended in 1999 in relation to the 1975 attempted bombings of two police cars and the slaying of Myrna Opsah during a bank robbery.

At the event, Ellison told the Pioneer Press he believed the prosecution of Olson was political. In his speech, Ellison noted he didn't know much about the SLA and he thought Olson was being prosecuted in the court of public opinion because of some of her political beliefs.
"I'm a supporter of anybody who's subject to political prosecution based on their being in a vilified group," he told the Pioneer Press. "Your chances of getting a fair trial are low. I've been waiting for the evidence against her. I don't think they would not cheat to prosecute this woman.

Ellison also spoke favorably of convicted cop killer Assata Shakur and expressed his opposition to any attempt to extradite her to the United States from Cuba, where she had fled after escaping prison.

"I am praying that Castro does not get to the point where he has to really barter with these guys over here because they're going to get Assata Shakur, they're going to get a whole lot of other people," Ellison said at the event, which also included a silent auction and speech by former Weather Underground leader Bernardine Dohrn. "I hope the Cuban people can stick to it, because the freedom of some good decent people depends on it."[20]

Progressive States Network Gala

April 19, 2007, Progressive States Network’s first annual gala honored U.S. Senator Jon Tester, U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, and Deborah Rappaport. Awards were also presented to Iowa State Senator Joe Bolkcom, Kansas State Senator Donald Betts, and Washington State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles. Participants talked about promoting their legislative agenda and public policy advocacy. They also talked about issues such as operations in Iraq, grassroots organizing and recruitment, and public participation.

Speakers emphasized that this ban deepens the Islamophobic policies of this administration. Jaylani Hussein recalled that it was Trump himself who repeatedly called for a Muslim ban during his electoral campaign but was forced to stop using that language when courts made clear that would not stand. Hussein dared him to again be forthright in calling these policies what they truly are. Many speakers also made clear that this expansion of the ban is focused on African countries, including Africa’s most populous country of Nigeria, so in addition to being a Muslim ban it is also a racist Africa ban.[24]

Nation of Islam

In 1985 Ellison attended a campus speech by Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who blended calls for black empowerment with lengthy diatribes against Jews, gays, and other groups. “I remember talking to him and being surprised at how far left he had gone,” says Chuck Fogel, an editor at the South End who lived next door to Ellison.

In his time at the University of Minnesota Law School,Ellison began making a name for himself as a fierce critic of police and a Farrakhan defender.

Ellison’s aspirations as a community leader led him into an alliance with the Nation of Islam. If reclamation was the idea animating Ellison as he entered his 30s, Farrakhan was black America’s leading evangelist for it, commanding huge crowds for speeches that could last hours. In 1995, Ellison and a small group of pastors and activists he’d worked with on policing issues (including the leader of the local NOI chapter) organized buses to take black men of all religions from the Midwest to attend Farrakhan’s Million Man March.

In his book, Ellison describes the event, held in October 1995, as a turning point in his flirtation with Farrakhan. After filling those buses and attending the march, he was struck by the smallness of Farrakhan’s message compared with the moment. The speech was rich in masonic conspiracies and quack numerology about the number 19. What was the point of organizing if it built up to nothing? Ellison says he was reminded of an old saying of his father’s, which is attributed to former House Speaker Sam Rayburn: “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.”

Ellison has said that he was never a member of the Nation of Islam and that his working relationship with the organization’s Twin Cities study group (the national organization’s term for its chapters) lasted just 18 months. He has said that he was “an angry young black man” who thought he might have found an ally in the cause of economic and political empowerment, and that he overlooked Farrakhan’s most incendiary statements because “when you’re African American, there’s literally no leader who is not beat up by the press.” In his book, Ellison outlines deep theological differences between the group and his mainstream Muslim faith. But his break from Farrakhan was not quite as clean as he portrayed it. Under the byline Keith X Ellison, months after the march that he described as an epiphany, he penned an op-ed in the Twin Cities black weekly Insight News, pushing back against charges of anti-Semitism directed at Farrakhan. In 1997, nearly two years later, he endorsed a statement again defending Farrakhan. When Ellison ran (unsuccessfully) for state representative in 1998, Insight News described him as affiliated with the Nation of Islam. Two organizers who worked with him at the time told me they believed Ellison had been a member of the Nation. At community meetings, he was even known to show up in a bow tie, accompanied by dark-suited members of the Fruit of Islam, the Nation’s security wing.

Minister James Muhammad, who in the 1990s led the Nation of Islam’s Twin Cities study group (see Men Are Responsible To Cultivate Hope (MARCH) below), confirms that Ellison served for several years as the local group’s chief of protocol, acting as a liaison between Muhammad and members of the community. He was a “trusted member of our inner circle,” says Muhammad, who is no longer active in the Nation of Islam. Ellison regularly attended meetings and sometimes spoke in Muhammad’s stead, when the leader was absent.

It was only in 2006, as his run for Congress floundered, that Ellison repudiated Farrakhan. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come up,” he told the Star Tribune, when pressed. In a letter to a Jewish community organization, he conceded that Farrakhan’s positions “were and are anti-Semitic, and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did.”

Spike Moss, an organizer who worked with Ellison on the Million Man March, called his reversal “the ultimate betrayal.” Farrakhan even recorded a Facebook video responding to Ellison this past December. “If you denounce me to achieve greatness,” he said, “wait until the enemy betrays you and then throws you back like a piece of used tissue paper to your people.”

Menakem attributes the various identities that his book club buddy and radio co-host adopted over the years—Keith Hakim, Keith X Ellison, Keith Muhammad—to “him becoming conscious and him trying on different ways of being before he settled on who he is,” he says. “He’s always remaking himself,” says Anthony Ellison, the congressman’s younger brother. “The Keith Ellison from 20 years ago is not the Keith Ellison today.”[25]
1989–Ellison publishes the first of two articles in the University of Minnesota Daily under the alias “Keith Hakim.” In the first such article, Ellison speaks up for the Nation of Islam.

Minister James Muhammad, who in the 1990s led the Nation of Islam’s Twin Cities study group, confirms that Ellison served for several years as the local group’s chief of protocol, acting as a liaison between Muhammad and members of the community. He was a “trusted member of our inner circle,” says Muhammad, who is no longer active in the Nation of Islam. Ellison regularly attended meetings and sometimes spoke in Muhammad’s stead, when the leader was absent. An Ellison spokesman declined to answer questions about the congressman’s role in the study group and instead replied in an email, “Right wing and anti-Muslim extremists have been trying to smear Keith and distort his record for more than a decade. He’s written extensively about his work on the Million Man March, and has a long history of standing up against those who sow division and hatred.”

The historic call by Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam for 1 million Black men to march on Washington, D.C. on Oct. 16 has the potential to be one of the most important events of the Black liberation movement in the 20th century.

Pilgrimage to Mecca

In December 2008 Keith Ellison made his Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. He first travelled to Medina where he stayed for several days. meeting up with his friend Asad Zaman and other pilgrims from Minnesota.

After Mecca, Ellison was invited to a reception at the King's residence, for 60 to 70 people from Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, China,and Chad. North Carolina state legislator Larry Shaw was also there. Ellison chatted with a member of the Iranian parliament.[30]

Aftermath

Days after his return from an unannounced pilgrimage to the Islamic holy site of Mecca, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison talked about it as a transformational personal experience, saying "I didn't want to turn it into a politics thing."

Nearly eight months later, the Minneapolis DFLer faced a House Ethics Committee review of his decision to keep the trip's costs under wraps -- even though it was paid for by a local Islamic nonprofit and typically would be reported as a gift to a public official.

Asked about the trip , Ellison said that he is "not privy to the internal workings of the organization" that covered his costs, and that he complied with all House Ethics panel disclosure requirements. "Why should I waive a right that's accorded me under the rules?" he said.

Tax records show the group that paid Ellison's expenses, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, received nearly $900,000 in taxpayer money in 2006 and 2007 from a rental arrangement for Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), an Inver Grove Heights charter school.

The man who accompanied Ellison to Mecca, Asad Zaman, was executive director of the TiZA school, a political contributor of Ellison's and was president of the Muslim American Society until August, when the Mecca trip was planned.

TiZA has been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and probed by state officials for allegedly promoting Islam, which would violate the church and state separation required of public schools -- including charter schools.

The school received state funding to pay rent to the Muslim American Society Property Holding Corp., a nonprofit spinoff of the Muslim American Society that owned the building. The corporation then turned over $879,000 to the Muslim society as a grant.

Those close connections have opened Ellison to questions about the nature of the trip. Ellison called it "a private trip," adding that he had told the ethics committee of the trip beforehand and received its approval. A spokesman for the school says no public money was used for the trip, or Hajj, which Ellison took as a once-in-a-lifetime fulfillment of his religious duty as a practicing Muslim. The 16-day pilgrimage is considered one of the most solemn acts in Islam, one that is supposed to be undertaken free of debts and unmet family obligations.

Ellison has justified withholding the cost by citing the religious nature of his journey to Saudi Arabia, saying it had nothing to do with his duties as a congressman.

Zaman did not respond to several inquiries seeking comment on the Mecca trip. In the ACLU's lawsuit, which alleges that the property holding company effectively transferred government charter school funds to the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, the ACLU quoted Zaman as saying that "Islam makes no distinction between public and private life."

Twin Cities public relations executive Blois Olson, who was serving as a spokesman for the school, said there was no connection between the TiZA rent money and Ellison's trip, which took place in late November and early December of 2008.

Rep. Mindy Greiling, DFL-Roseville, who chaired the K-12 Education Finance Division Committee, said the state funds were intended to help charter schools rent space.

She said she is troubled by the large grants to the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whether or not the money can be tied directly to Ellison's trip.

"It calls into question the sensibility of the people who lead the school," Greiling said. "And to send Keith Ellison off to Mecca just compounds it."

Chuck Samuelson, executive director of the Minnesota ACLU, said the flow of any public funds to a sectarian group that funded a public official's trip to a religious site heightens the questions Samuelson's group has raised about the separation of church and state.

"The group that paid for it [the trip] gets a large part of its money from the public trough," Samuelson said.[31]

HR 1905

Keith Ellison was one of only 11 members of the House to vote against HR 1905 which would have prohibited government employees from contacting anyone associated with the Iranian government. [32]

Radical Islamic ties

Keith Ellison once met privately with a radical Muslim cleric who’s admitted supporting the late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and ministering to two suspected Saudi agents before they went on a hijacking dry run before 9/11, according to the recently declassified intelligence report known as the “28 pages.”

More disturbing, Rep. Keith Ellison defended the Muslim cleric, Omar Shahin, after he was kicked off a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix with five other Muslims for frightening crew and passengers by behaving “suspiciously” like the 9/11 hijackers. Shahin was detained and questioned by authorities.

The night before the Nov. 20, 2006, incident, Ellison met with Shahin in Minneapolis following a private conference organized by the imam and the North American Imams Federation he led at the time.

Two days after Shahin, Sulaiman and the other Islamic clerics were bounced by security, Ellison sent a letter to the US Airways chief executive demanding a meeting to discuss possible “discrimination” against his friends. He also used the incident, which security experts believe was staged to desensitize security personnel to such activity, as a platform to call for the criminalization of profiling suspicious Muslim passengers.

Shahin, who has acknowledged being a former supporter of Osama bin Laden, is no stranger to controversy.

At his former hardline Saudi-backed mosque in Tucson, Ariz., he ministered to two Saudi college students removed from an America West flight after twice attempting to open the cockpit. The FBI suspected the 1999 incident was a “dry run” for the 9/11 hijackings. One of the students, Hamdan al-Shalawi, had trained for attacks in Afghanistan. The other, Muhammed al-Qudhaeein, became a material witness in the 9/11 investigation.

Al-Qudhaeein and al-Shalawi were flying from Phoenix to Washington to attend a party at the Saudi Embassy.

“After they boarded the plane in Phoenix, they began asking the flight attendants technical questions about the flight that the flight attendants found suspicious,” according to the recently released “28 pages.” “When the plane was in flight, al-Qudhaeein asked where the bathroom was; one of the flight attendants pointed him to the back of the plane. Nevertheless, al-Qudhaeein went to the front of the plane and attempted on two occasions to enter the cockpit.”

The plane made an emergency landing and the FBI investigated the incident, but decided not to pursue prosecution. At the time, al-Qudhaeein and al-Shalawi claimed that the Saudi Embassy paid for their airplane tickets.

After the FBI discovered that the suspect in a counterterrorism investigation in Phoenix was driving al-Shalawi’s car, the bureau opened a counterterrorism case on al-Shalawi.

Then, in November 2000, the FBI received reporting that al-Shalawi had trained at terrorist camps in Afghanistan and had received explosives training to perform attacks on American targets.

After the 9/11 attacks, the bureau’s Phoenix field office fired off a memo to headquarters warning: “Phoenix FBI now believes both men were specifically attempting to test the security procedures of America West Airlines in preparation for and in furtherance of UBL/Al-Qaida operations.”

The office subsequently believed that al-Qudhaeein might be a Saudi intelligence agent, based on his frequent contact with Saudi government establishments in the US and his operation of a “Saudi club” in Phoenix to assist Saudi students in the area, among other things. The FBI has also developed information that al-Qudhaeein was receiving money from the Saudi government.

In spite of being subjects of an FBI counterterrorism investigation, al-Qudhaeein and al-Shalawi filed racial-profiling suits against America West, now part of US Airways. Defending them was none other than Shahin, along with the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — Nihad Awad, another close friend of Ellison, aka Hakim Muhammad.

FBI investigators believe bin Laden operated a cell at Shahin’s mosque. Hani Hanjour, the hijacker who piloted the plane that hit the Pentagon, worshipped there along with bin Laden’s one-time personal secretary. Bin Laden’s former chief of logistics, in fact, was president of the mosque just before Shahin took over.[33]

Visiting Gaza

Brian Baird (D-WA), along with Keith Ellison (D-MN), travelled to February 19 2009 to Gaza. Others in the visit included Senator John Kerry (D-MA). This visit, which did not have the official sanction of the Obama Administration, is the first time anyone from the U.S. government entered Gaza in more than three years.

Ellison also flew to Qatar over President’s Day weekend to give a speech at Qatar University in the capital city of Doha, located on the Persian Gulf.

“Following 9/11, there has been an emergence of Muslim civil rights organizations," Ellison said during the Feb. 15, 2009 address at Qatar University's College of Sharia and Islamic Studies. “The political picture is bright, not perfect, but we are ready to expand the dialogue and work to resolving the miscomprehensions that exist in our society and between the U.S. and the Islamic world.”

“This is the first time a U.S. president has reached out in this way,” said Ellison, citing Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo Bay, end the war in Iraq and stop using torture. “President Obama’s granting his first international interview to Al-Arabiya was a significant move which showed his commitment to his pledge. He was talking straight to Muslims all over the world.”
[35]

Supported Lifting the Gaza Blockade

On Jan. 27, 2010, U.S. Representatives Keith Ellison and Jim McDermott led 52 other members of Congress in signing a letter addressed to President Barack Obama, calling for him to use diplomatic pressure to resolve the blockade affecting Gaza. [36] The entire letter together with a complete list of signatories can be read by clicking here.

Supporting Egyptian revolution

"Just weeks" after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Keith Ellison traveled to Egypt as part of a congressional delegation.

While there, we met with members of parliament. Some of my friends from Egypt arranged for me to speak at the Medical Syndicate, a regular town hall forum. I walked into a room of three hundred people...There were many Americans who were happy to see the Egyptian revolution take place...[37]

The March 2012 delegation met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and other high-ranking Egyptian government officials. While in Egypt, Nancy Pelosi and Members of Congress also met with civil society and religious minority leaders.

In addition to Leader Pelosi, other Members of the Congressional delegation were: Congressman George Miller of California, Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virginia, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, and Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota.[38]

Iran "peace" meeting

More than 175 people came to the event “Iran in the Crosshairs” on October 19, 2012, in Minneapolis, to hear from anti-war activists and Congressman Keith Ellison about how to "stop the U.S. march to war".

Margaret Sarfehjooy with Women Against Military Madness laid out the context of U.S. war threats and sanctions on Iran. “Our crippling sanctions on Iran have already resulted in deaths caused by lack of medicine, according to an official from the Tehran Thalassemia Association. The Iranian Hemophilia Society announced in August that ‘the lives of tens of thousands of children are being endangered by the lack of proper drugs caused by international economic sanctions.’”

Representative Keith Ellison spoke about the atmosphere of war in the U.S. Congress and about the pressure he is under to support war. He explained that anyone who proposes a sanctions bill gets a hearing and that everyone in Congress is pressured to vote for any kind of sanctions.

Ellison has voted against sanctions on Iran twice and he explained his votes. He didn’t promise to vote against sanctions on Iran in the future, but he did say, “It’s easier to vote no if you know you have the backing of your community.” He did promise, “I’m not going to vote for sanctions that will make it harder for the U.S. to talk.”

Ellison concluded that he thinks the U.S. is on a path to war with Iran and that he sees pushing sanctions as leading the U.S. to war.

Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee concluded the event with an impassioned appeal for action, “We need to be a voice for peace and justice. We cannot be passive. We cannot assume that our leaders will do the right thing. The threat of war and the impact of sanctions already in place on Iran are very real.”

Meeting with Hassan Rouhani

While in town for the 68th UN General Assembly, the new Iranian president hosted the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Muslim leaders from different Islamic communities and members of the U.S. Congress at a private meeting.

President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June and held the gathering at the One UN Hotel in Manhattan Sept. 24, 2013 across the street from the UN headquarters.

The meeting with President Hassan Rouhani included other Muslims and congressmen Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andre Carson of Indiana participated in the dialogue.

The meeting came after Iran’s president spoke at the General Assembly and impressed analysts with words that reflected a desire to thaw U.S.-Iran relations.

ISNA speaker

National Muslim Democratic Council

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi headlined a Democratic Party fundraiser with leaders of Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood front groups in May of 2012.

The invitation-only fundraiser was sponsored by Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Andre Carson, D-Ind.; and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and took place on the evening of May 16, 2012, at the W Hotel in Washington D.C.

In attendance were about 20 members of a Syrian dissident group and 10 officials representing Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas front groups. Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad was perhaps the most prominent attendee and played a key role in organizing the event.

CAIR, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007-2008 Holy Land Foundation Hamas money-laundering trials, was described in FBI testimony as having been created by Hamas. In a 2007 federal court filing, prosecutors described CAIR as conspiring with other branches of the Muslim Brotherhood to support terrorists.

The FBI officially severed relations with CAIR in 2008 because of its ties to Hamas.

Barzinji was named in a federal affidavit as being closely associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. His name appears in a global phone book of Muslim Brotherhood members recovered by Italian and Swiss authorities in Nov. 2001 from the home of Al-Taqwa Bank of Lugano founder Youssef Nada, one of the leaders of the international Muslim Brotherhood.

During the fundraiser, Pelosi sat at the same table with Awad and Barzinji.

Speaking to the attendees in her 10-minute address, she said the Democratic Party should become the natural home of Muslim-Americans, because Republicans fan the flames of "Islamophobia." She focused exclusively on Islamophobia, a term devised by radical Islamists and their apologists to silence critics, while avoiding any mention of terrorism carried out by Islamists in the United States.

Also speaking were Israel, Ellison, Carson, and Reps Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Israel and Murphy were said to have been the most vehement among the members of Congress in attendance in terms of their incendiary accusations of Republican-incited Islamophobia. One observer said that it was striking that "there was not a scintilla of comments in defense of U.S. national security." However, they welcomed each of the Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood front groups represented at the event into the "Democratic community" without any mention of their well-documented terror links.

Following the speeches, a prominent attorney, Mazen Asbahi publicly rose to announce the creation of a new organization called the National Muslim Democratic Council (NMDC). Asbahi was Barack Obama's 2008 Muslim outreach director but was forced to step down when his prior association with a radical Muslim cleric, Jamal Said, became public. Said was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.

The NMDC seeks to "maximize American Muslim support for Democratic candidates and policies."[41]

Letter on Iran sanctions

The National Iranian American Council commended Rep. James Moran (D-VA) and "all twenty-one Members of Congress who sent a letter to President Obama April 4, 2014, supporting necessary action to ensure medicine and humanitarian goods are not unintentionally blocked for the Iranian people. NIAC strongly supported the letter and has consistently worked to raise awareness regarding the impact of sanctions on the Iranian people"...

The preliminary nuclear agreement brokered by the P5+1 and Iran included an agreement to establish a financial channel to facilitate humanitarian trade; however, medicine shortages have continued in part due to extensive financial sanctions on Iran and the reported unwillingness of banks to facilitate legal, humanitarian transactions.

No war on Iran

According to Jamal Abdi executive director of NIAC Action in May 2018 Congress sent a message loud and clear to Trump: you do not have legal authorization to start a war with Iran. As part of the annual defense bill, a massive piece of “must-pass” legislation that provides the legal authority for the Pentagon’s operations, a group of lawmakers inserted a key provision to put the brakes on any plans by Trump, Bolton, or Pompeo to start a war. The language — drafted by Reps. Keith Ellison, Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna, Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern, and Walter B. Jones — amended the defense bill to state clearly that “the use of the Armed Forces against Iran is not authorized by this Act or any other Act.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the measure was adopted by voice vote with no pushback from even the chamber’s biggest hawks. In fact, this should not be a surprise. Lawmakers may be eager to beat their chests and talk about escalating pressure on Iran, but when they are forced to go on the record about actually supporting the war that may result, even the loudest Iran hawks generally go silent. Tough talk is cheap; starting a war isn’t.

If the Senate approves the House’s language, President Trump would likely be forced to sign into law an acknowledgement that he does not have the authority to launch a war against Iran. This is vital, as it would close a dangerous path that the administration may have been planning to take: citing the 2001 authorization for military force against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the very one that has been used as legal cover for nearly all of America’s military adventures in the Middle East ever since.[43]

NIAC staffer

Mahyar Sorour currently serves as a Senior Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Prior to this, she served in the same role for Congressman Keith Ellison. .[44]

US Council of Muslim Organizations

Condemning Criticism of Islam legislation

On December 17, 2015, Rep. Don Beyer, Jr. introduced legislation condemning "violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States." The legislation is based on unsourced claims that there is a "rise of hateful and anti-Muslim speech, violence, and cultural ignorance," and a "disproportionate targeting" of "Muslim women who wear hijabs, headscarves, or other religious articles of clothing...because of their religious clothing, articles, or observances." The resolution, H.Res.569 - Condemning violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States [48]

The event raised more than $620,000 to support CAIR's civil rights and advocacy work on behalf of the American Muslim community.

Elected officials who spoke at the sold-out event included Representative-elect Ellison (D-MN), as well as Reps. Mike Honda (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Albert Wynn (D-MD). Ellison and Jackson Lee offered their addresses by video. Saqib Ali, who was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates (District 39) on November 7, was also in attendance.

Other speakers included Special Agent in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr. of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Fairfax County Police Chief Col. David M. Rohrer and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Most members of CAIR's national board also took part in the banquet, which was emceed by Julia Shearson of CAIR-Ohio's Cleveland office.

Several Muslim community members received CAIR Islamic Community Service Awards during the dinner. The annual CAIR Rosa Parks Civil Liberties Scholarship went to Raashida Muhammad of Stillman College.[50]

Also speaking were Reps. Elijah Cummings , CAIR National Board chairman Parvez Ahmed, and executive director Nihad Awad. All praised CAIR for its dozen years of working to endorse, lobby and educate the American public and the country's leaders on the positive aspects of Islam and Muslims in America.[51]

2011 CAIR speech

The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) hosted a community event in San Fernando Valley featuring the first Muslim U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, who gave a keynote address on the theme, “Defending our Democracy.” The event also marked the Congressman’s first visit to the valley area.

Congressman Ellison shed light on the current anti-Muslim sentiment in society and how Muslims can effectively challenge it through education and activism. He delivered his remarks before a crowd of 150 community members at the Olympia Banquet Hall in Van Nuys.

The event, moreover, served an opportunity to share CAIR-LA’s advocacy work and strengthen outreach to the valley’s Muslim community.
CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush expanded on the organization’s key grassroots efforts and community empowerment programs, such as engagement with the Japanese American community to organize Southland Muslims’ annual visit to Manzanar internment camp and the resulting high school learning exchange program that brings together Muslim and Japanese American youth.[52]

CAIR banquet speaker

The event, themed “Upholding the Constitution, Defending Civil Liberties,” included a silent auction, a networking social, an awards ceremony, and an opportunity to learn about CAIR-MN’s accomplishments in defense of civil rights over the past year.

In her welcome remarks, CAIR-MN Chair Ramla Bile spoke of CAIR-MN’s vision in creating a society in which all Americans are treated with respect and dignity. Senator Amy Klobuchar D-MN) and Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) were special guest speakers. Iowa state Representative Ako Abdul-Samad was the keynote speaker for the event.

The Master of Ceremonies was Phil Duran, incoming President of the Minnesota State Bar Association. The Courage Award was presented to community activist Dr. Richard Johnson and the Justice Works award was presented to attorney Jordan Kushner.

Banquet attendees included community members, leaders of mosques and Muslim organizations, business executives, and interfaith partners. This year’s banquet included 12 sponsors and over 20 table sponsors from local corporations, small businesses, law schools, and nonprofit organizations.[53]

Praising CAIR

“As a firm believer in civil and human rights, including the principles upon which our country was founded, I appreciate CAIR’s work to defend the U.S. Constitution and safeguard the rights of all Americans.” - Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) (September 2014). [54]

“In addition to uniting across religion, race, and gender, CAIR has created a space for the American Muslim community to speak out against injustices.”

Endorsed CAIR, 2016

Politics

After a decade mostly working outside elected politics, Ellison says he decided to run for the state House after testifying at a hearing on sentencing reform and seeing no black legislators. “We oftentimes had these debates and discussions about ‘out of the streets and into the suites’—that was the term that was used to describe the swan song of the civil rights movement,” says August Nimtz, one of the few black professors at the University of Minnesota and a longtime acquaintance of Ellison’s. “He made a decision and thought he could make a difference by being on the inside.” After a false start in 1998, he won election as a state representative from North Minneapolis on his second try in 2002. A few years later, he jumped into the race to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Martin Sabo in 2006.

In a field that included a former state party chair and a candidate supported by Emily’s List, Ellison had to find his own base amid a steady trickle of stories about his past. One Minnesota political newsletter declared him a “dead man walking.” Ellison labored to show Jewish progressives he’d turned a page. He picked up the endorsement of the American Jewish World, the Twin Cities-based newspaper, and he addressed voters’ concerns about Farrakhan at the state’s largest synagogue. Ellison’s years of organizing and legal work formed the basis for a coalition. Fashioning himself as a lefty in the mold of progressive icon Paul Wellstone, Ellison adopted the late senator’s spruce-green campaign colors and railed against the “Republican lite” leaders of his party. He ran against the Iraq War and pushed for single-payer health care. Also critical was the mobilization of a new constituency in the Twin Cities—Muslim Somali Americans, who had begun settling in the area in the 1990s.

In that first primary, Ellison embraced the old-school tactics he aims to bring to the DNC. He ran no campaign ads; instead, he invested in paid community organizers who started their work early, months before a traditional campaign might lumber to life. Ellison often accompanied his organizers on their rounds. They targeted apartment buildings housing immigrants—Russians, East Africans, Latinos—who had little history of political engagement, and they recruited organizers who came from these communities. “You go to Keith’s campaign office and it looks like the United Nations,” says Corey Day, the executive director of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The Minneapolis City Pages called his coalition “the most diverse crayon box of races and creeds a Minnesota politician has ever mustered.”

In St. Paul, “I don’t think more than a handful of close friends of his even knew he was Muslim,” Dave Colling, who managed his first congressional campaign,said. Ellison shied away from discussing his religion during the race, telling reporters it was “not that interesting.” [56]

Wellstone relationship

Keith Ellison first met Paul Wellstone in 1993. He was Ellison's exemplar of an effective politician.[57]

Wellstone Action

In 2009 Keith Ellison was listed as a member of the Advisory Board[58]
of Wellstone Action, a Minnesota based organization based on the political legacy[59] of that state’s late ‘progressive” Senator Paul Wellstone.

Wellstone Action and Wellstone Action Fund combine to form a national center for training and leadership development for the progressive movement. Founded in January 2003, Wellstone Action's mission is to honor the legacy of Paul and Sheila Wellstone by continuing their work through training, educating, mobilizing and organizing a vast network of progressive individuals and organizations.

Wellstone "disciple"

“Paul Wellstone put to bed the idea that if you are a progressive and a liberal, you could just run elections halfway and just give yourself a pat on the back for fighting the good fight,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Wellstone disciple who last fall became the first Muslim elected to Congress.[60]

Wellstone trainer

One group that is doing a great job of applying organization to agitation is Wellstone Action. Named for the legendary progressive senator Paul Wellstone, this group holds intensive training sessions around the country to hone the political skills of potential candidates, campaign workers, and citizen activists. Called "Camp Wellstone," these sessions empower regular folks to act on their progressive principles, to challenge even the most entrenched political establishment … and to win.

Begun in 2003, Wellstone Action has been educating and motivating a whole new generation of grassroots leaders who are not beholden to money interests, not tied to old-line political hierarchies, and not afraid to offer a new politics based on ideas and ideals. And now, graduates of these citizenship camps are running winning campaigns all across the country.

In the Nov. 7 election, Camp Wellstone alumni ran for local, state, and federal offices, and 78 of them were elected in 18 states. They will now be state senators, country commissioners, secretaries of state, and even members of Congress – three Wellstone grads (John Hall of New York, David Loebsack of Iowa, and Tim Walz of Minnesota) were elected to the U.S. house this year. In addition, one of Wellstone Action's trainers, Keith Ellison, was elected to the house, becoming the first Muslim to serve in Congress.

Running for Congress

In March 2006 Martin Sabo announced he woould leave Congress. Ellisons friend Ken Martin suggested he stand for the seat.[62]

Jesse Jackson support

June 2006, ae rally for Keith Ellison was held in the middle of a field at a north Minneapolis park. In the sweltering heat and oppressive humidity, about 100 supporters came out to support Ellison and cheer for Jesse Jackson.

Ellison, who won the DFL endorsement, still faced challenges in the party primary from former state senator Ember Reichgott Junge, former DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson and Minneapolis city council member Paul Ostrow. Ellison was also facing questions and criticism about his past relationship with the Nation of Islam. Ellison has admitted to supporting some of the views of Nation leader Louis Farrakhan, but he had distanced himself from Farrakhan's anti-Semitic and anti-gay statements.

"So I came to say, yeah, Keith was at that meeting. Yes, I was at that meeting. But he nor I agreed with anything that was in any nature connected to anything that was racist and devilish," he said.

Ellison did not address his relationship with the Nation of Islam. He spoke out against the war in Iraq, called for universal healthcare and vowed to make medicare work better for seniors. Ellison also spoke in favor of renewable energy and expressed a desire to maintain voting rights for all citizens.

"But the main thing we are going to Washington to do is to argue that we are all better off together than apart. That everybody matters. We have to come together," he said. "Black, white, brown, yellow. We have to come together as one people. Jewish, Christian, Muslim. We have to come together, y'all."

Ellison then introduced Jackson, who invoked the names of the state's DFL canon: Humphrey, Mondale and Wellstone - and told them that Ellison represents the spirit of those leaders.

"We need an enlightened voice in the Congress. And that's what Keith represents - voice of enlightenment," he said. "Today, we find ourselves trapped in energy exploitation, price gouging and greed."

Jackson said it is morally wrong that oil companies benefit from tax breaks, while also reporting millions in profits.

Following the rally, Ellison expressed his gratitude for Jackson's campaign help.

"Rev. Jackson embodies the civil rights spirit of Humphrey, Mondale, Wellstone, Martin Luther King, more than anyone I know. So to have him here is a tremendous honor for me and it sends a message out there that this is an inclusive campaign, a campaign that includes everyone," he said.

Jackson also fielded questions about Ellison's past. Jackson responded by saying both Ellison and voters should look forward.

Kudos from Keith Ellison

Keith Ellison tweets a photo of himself holding the book "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" by Mark Bray

On January 3, 2018, Keith Ellison tweeted a photo of himself holding Mark Bray's book "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook." He tweeted:[64]

"At @MoonPalaceBooks and I just found the book that strike (sic) fear in the heart of @realDonaldTrump"

Mark Bray explains in his book "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" that the "goal" is to completely alienate anyone who voted for President Donald Trump:[64]

"Our goal should be that in twenty years those who voted for Trump are too uncomfortable to share that fact in public. We may not always be able to change someone’s beliefs, but we sure as hell can make it politically, socially, economically, and sometimes physically costly to articulate them."

On September 14th, 2001, she courageously cast her lone vote against granting the President a blank check to wage war without constraint and throughout the world. Barbara Lee is a leader in the fight for peace, social justice, and equality.[70]

Ellison was recognized for his authorship of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 that became federal law under the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. According to this legislation, tenants who are current on their rent payments have the right to stay in their home that enters foreclosure for 90 days or through the end of their lease. According to the NLIHC, 40 percent of foreclosed properties nationwide were occupied by tenants. In Minneapolis, this rate was over 60 percent. These protections are set to expire at the end of "It is fitting and right that Congressman Keith Ellison is presented with the first Edward W. Brooke III Housing Leadership Award by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Congressman Ellison has been a leading voice for safe and affordable housing for low income Americans, and we are honored to recognize him with this award. The Congressman was instrumental in the enactment of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure act, which was signed into law in May 2009. As a direct result of his work, families all over the country no longer confront the immediate loss of their home when their landlord faces foreclosure," stated Sheila Crowley, President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.[71]

J Sreet endorsement

Ellison has traveled to the Middle East on a number of occasions and possesses an intimate knowledge of the region. He has been outspoken about the need to continue US aid to the both the Palestinian Authority and Israel as a means of safeguarding American and Israeli security interests.[73]

Voted against cutting funding for ACORN

In September 2009, following the lead of their Senate colleagues, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to cut off funds to ACORN. the vote was 345-75. All of the 75 were Democrats, and included Keith Ellison. [74]

Congress

Keith Ellison was elected as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 112th Congress. Working together with other members of the Caucus, Keith helped shape historic Health Care Reform and Wall Street Reform, raise the federal minimum wage, start the process to end the War in Iraq, strengthen veterans’ benefits, combat hate crimes, and create guarantees of pay equality for women.

Ellison currently serves on the Financial Services Committee and the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. The Financial Services Committee provides oversight for the nation's housing and financial services sector. The Democratic Steering & Policy Committee decides committee assignments for Democratic Members and sets the Democratic Caucus' policy agenda. He previously served on the House Judiciary Committee in the 110th Congress (2007-2008) and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the 111th Congress (2009-2010).[75]

Communist Party connections

2006 Communist Support

"In Minnesota, campaigns for nomination as a candidate in a public election starts with winning support at the precinct caucuses, but Rep. Sabo had announced his retirement after the 7 March precinct caucuses. Therefore Ellison’s initial campaign had to focus on winning the endorsement at the Fifth Congressional District DFL Convention on 6 May from among the convention delegates that had already been chosen at the precinct caucuses. Doris and I normally attend the DFL caucuses. I already have indicated that although the DFL caucus rules state that a participant in the caucus cannot be a member of another political party, the Communist Party is technically not a political party in Minnesota if does not field candidates in the election.

Doris and I had been chosen as delegates for the DFL Congressional District Convention, and we campaigned for Ellison before and at the convention. Ellison, with his strong antiwar position and positive reaction to his role in the legislature as a representative of his predominately African American north Minneapolis district, came out first in the first ballots at the convention, during which Nelson Pallmeyer withdraw and gave his support to Ellison. Ellison won the nomination in the fourth ballot. He still had to face a primary election in September with the four other candidates, all with heavy political credentials that were running against him. To gather support for Ellison, I suggested to April Knutson and Jim Knutson that they draft a letter addressed to activists in the peace movement urging them to support Ellison.

Doris and I and the Knutsons then solicited signatures to the letter from among well-known peace activists. In July, we circulated the letter as widely as possible. Doris and I volunteered to cosponsor a fundraiser for Ellison in our home on 24 July with our neighbors Dave Holets and his wife Nancy Arneson. Dave, already retired, had been in charge of managing the finances of the School of Physics and Astronomy. Together, we leafleted the immediate neighborhood with invitations to the fundraiser. On 21 and 22 July, I went into St. Louis Park, a suburb just west of the city line, a block and a half from our home, to do door knocking. When someone appeared at the door, I would begin by introducing myself by name. I was not surprised when one of the first responses I got was, “Oh, you’re the Communist at the University of Minnesota.” Two or three others recognized me in a similar manner. The fact that I was campaigning for Ellison did not seem to bother any of them."[76]

Communist Party approval

If Keith Ellison is elected in November to represent Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, he will bring to the U.S. House of Representatives a fresh progressive voice in tradition of Paul Wellstone. He will also be the first African American congressman from Minnesota and the first Muslim in the U.S. Congress.

Ellison is a well-known civil rights attorney and an established progressive leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives. He received the Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party’s endorsement at the district convention in May, enjoys strong support from organized labor, and has been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO.

Peace and justice activists have been volunteering in increasing numbers in the Ellison campaign to refocus attention on Ellison’s program. Ellison calls for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a universal, single-payer health care system, protection and extension of civil rights to all, including gays and lesbians, and responsible stewardship of the environment.

In the Minnesota House, Ellison supported legislation to raise the minimum wage. He has spoken at peace rallies in the Twin Cities area. He pledged to fight all attempts to erode the Voting Rights Act. He founded the Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota.

Communist backing for "peace stand"/Middle East trip

Keith Ellison held a community meeting Sunday, April 15, 2007, at the Powderhorn Park Building in South Minneapolis to explain his vote on the Iraq War Supplemental Bill. Many in the "peace community" were angry about his vote to fund the war for another year.

When he was introduced, Ellison partisans gave him a standing ovation while many peace activists gently applauded. A sign at the front of the room read, "How will funding the war for another 515 days bring us peace?"

Ellison admitted that the vote was very hard for him personally. He said he voted for the bill because, for the first time, a congressional bill set an exit date from Iraq. "It is more different to govern than it is to be in the opposition. A majority of Democrats from ‘blue dogs’ (Democrats considered to be conservative) to the Out of Iraq caucus came together under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi to successfully challenge Bush’s war without end," Ellison said. Pelosi had promised the Congressional Progressive Caucus an up-or-down vote later on invading Iran, and Ellison expressed confidence in her leadership.

Ellison encouraged the crowd to keep up the pressure against the war, but he added, "When we leave here we must come together."

Most of the meeting was spent allowing citizens to vent their feelings about Ellison’s war vote.

First in line was peace activist Charlie Underwood--who had been active in Ellison’s election campaign. Underwood recited grim numbers of this war--over a million Iraqis dead; 3,300 American military dead; $500 billion spent. Underwood ventured that 5,000 Americans would be dead by the time the war funding bill calls to end American involvement in Iraq. He wanted to know how giving another $100 billion to this war would bring peace? Underwood concluded: "Calling this an antiwar vote makes no sense."

Ellison replied that voting against the bill and with the President would be worse. Later in the discussion he was reminded that he vowed not to fund the war. Ellison countered that he had not imagined that a funding bill would be tied to an antiwar vote.

Socialist Ty Moore called the Democrats a war party and called on Ellison to break with them--and build an independent movement to bring the war to an end.

A Gold Star Mom read a letter from Becky Lourey--former Minnesota legislator and candidate for governor who lost a son in Iraq--supporting Keith’s vote.

Minneapolis School Board Member Pam Costain pleaded with the crowd not to eat their own and received thunderous applause. She said the left had eaten up Paul Wellstone.

Civil rights attorney Jordan Kushner said, "Keith’s vote showed that his loyalty to the Democratic Party exceeded his loyalty to the peace movement. The peace movement was at the base of his campaign. We thought he was one of us when he pledged not to fund the war." Kushner believes Ellison could not have won the DFL endorsement and the DFL primary without the active involvement of the peace community.

Marv Davidov--founder of the Honeywell Project--afterward said the vote made no sense. "You can’t fund a war and oppose it at the same time." Davidov thinks that a straight up-or-down vote on the war--even if it had lost--would have done more to advance the peace movement.

Communist Erwin Marquit supported Ellison’s vote. He said we needed to take every opportunity to weaken Bush’s authority. "This is just one step in a strategy to bring the war to an end. But we need to keep the pressure on--outside the halls of Congress," Marquit said. He recalled that in 1972 the Minnesota Legislature passed a resolution telling the state’s attorney general not to send any Minnesota National Guard members to Vietnam. The state Supreme Court later overruled that resolution. "The important thing is this kind of struggle keeps pressure on and empowers the antiwar movement," Marquit said.

Peace activist Don Irish said our occupation of Iraq was just symbolic of America’s history of imperialism: "We have overthrown governments around the world.

Ellison recalled his recent trip to the Middle East. He said Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to negotiate with Israel. Ellison met with both Israeli and Palestinian leadership during his visit. He expressed opposition to an American plan to divide Iraq into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish areas. "We do not have the right to make petitions. We need to get all the neighbors involved in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis. All of these countries have a refugee crisis on their hands," Ellison said.

Ellison pleaded with people to keep the antiwar pressure on and not lose faith in the electoral process. "It’s easy to throw the baby out with the bath water. Keep working with me," he pleaded.[78]

Communist house party 1

Communist Erwin Marquit was involved in an house party for Keith Ellison, 1 September, 2011.[79]

Communist house party 2/ Middle East trip

Congressman Keith Ellison held a house party on December 17, 2013 at the Minneapolis home of Communist Party USA leaders Erwin Marquit and Doris Marquit. The event was also hosted by Dave Holets and Nancy Arneson. It was a fairly relaxed affair and found the progressive Representative discussing many issues, including the recent budget fight in Washington as well as some major upcoming foreign policy issues.

Rep. Ellison spoke first before taking some questions from the twenty or so gathered guests. He first spoke about the budget fight over the sequester, describing what he thought were the good and bad aspects. He lamented that the Congress would only “lift the sequester” because the military was starting to feel the bite of budget cuts. Rep. Ellison spoke of his leadership in the Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives, saying he wanted to elevate its profile so it’s passing legislation and not just a “debating society.” Rep. Ellison also spoke kindly of the recent fast-food labor strikes across the country. He said these movements were fueled by the same type of activism as the Occupy movement and stated that we “need a massive economic transformation in this country.” Rep. Ellison said that “America has never been richer” but still the federal government seeks to cut Medicare and Social Security. He also called for an “expansion of the safety net” and spoke of his efforts to raise the minimum wage for federal workers. He also said it was a “shame” that we “tolerate these conditions” such as inequality in this country. At the end Rep. Ellison did mention the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a major “free” trade deal that many international corporations are pushing and said that “150 members of Congress signed a letter” against the agreement.

Rep. Ellison then took a few questions from the group, which was comprised of DFL activists and supporters. The first question regarded the recent gerrymandering of congressional seats perpetrated by the Republican Party. Ellison cited North Carolina and Ohio as examples of this but said that people are starting to see the trend. He said the solution to this is more activism and organizing on the ground, but also pressure on President Obama.

The next question regarded how to turn another congressional district in Minnesota progressive. Rep. Ellison said he thought the best chance here was in the second district (currently held by Representative John Klein). Ellison promoted Mike Obermueller, who ran unsuccessfully against Klein in the previous election cycle, as a viable candidate. He said “people tend to listen to people who help them” and also disparaged Rep. Klein as a “lazy” candidate who barely campaigns and uses corporate money for his advertisements.

The next question concerned foreign policy: more specifically, a two-state solution the Israel/Palestine issue. Rep. Ellison discussed the current negotiations with Secretary of State John Kerry but said Prime Minister Netanyahu is “hypocritical” on the settlement issue. He said he took a trip to the region in the summer, visiting many areas not part of the “official” delegation trips. He spoke of his visit to Hebron, where he said “1,800 Palestinian shops” had been shuttered. He also stressed the need to tap into the Israeli citizenry, who are angry with their government over the occupation. Ellison said that “Congress is not helping," but that solving this issue is in the American interest.

The final question dealt with the situation in Syria. Ellison stated that the civil war there was “worse than ever” and the “worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.” He also stated that the refugee crisis is in desperate need of a solution but that there also needs to be a peace negotiation there.[80]

Three house meetings

The Marquits hosted three meetings for Rep. Keith Ellison.

I mentioned earlier that we had three fund raisers, that is, house parties, for Keith Ellison. They were cosponsored again by our friends Nancy Arneson and Dave Holets. The year 2011 was not a Congressional election year. Nevertheless Ellison’s campaign committee needed to raise funds to cover the cost of mobilizing people into activity on the progressive political issues that he supported independently of the actual reelection campaigns. Our third house party, again in our home, was held on 1 September. I asked Marion Greene, who represented our district in the Minnesota House of Representatives to introduce Ellison when it came time for him to speak. About twenty-five people attended. We raised $1,620...[81]

Communist phonebanker

As a member of the Political Mobilization Committee of the Minnesota State AFL-CIO Retirees Council, most of Erwin Marquit's phone-banking was retiree-to-retiree phone calls to union retirees organized by the
Minneapolis AFL-CIO Regional Federation. At several of the sessions, almost half of those participating in the phone calling were brought there by the Communist Party. Doris Marquit also participated in several of these sessions, as well as in those organized by the Ellison campaign committee.[82]

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists conference

Rep. Keith Ellison was one of the panelists from the Town Hall meeting:[83]

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) urged delegates to put the housing crisis “in its proper context. We’ve had 30 years of frozen wages. However, in 1984 CEOs made 42 times more than the average worker. But in 2005 CEOs made 411 times more than the average worker. As a result we consume less and borrow more. Our wages stagnate, while the rich get richer.” Ellison called for a “grassroots movement married to legislation.” [84]

Minnesota Peace Project

“Never a meeting without an action!” Most of us know and live by WAMM’s motto, but we don’t all have the same preferred mode of action. Some like to hit the streets. Some write letters to the editor. Some plan or attend educational programs. Some lobby their members of Congress. And some do it all.

Several WAMM members are leading the development of a statewide network of peace activists and groups with the working name “the Minnesota Peace Project” to influence foreign policy through their elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate. The group, which is organized by Congressional district, plans to use dialogue techniques to build a mutual understanding of each other’s views and to present documented information from reliable sources to build credibility. District groups will function semiautonomously based on the issues of greatest concern to their members and their opportunities to influence their representative.

Although the project is still in the organizational stages, there has been some progress to report:

Keith Ellison and Wellstone Action have both offered to conduct a training session on lobbying techniques for group members.
[95]

Message to WAMM

On July 9, 2008, More than 100 peace activists—assembled today on the south steps of the State Capitol Building to hear clergymen and civic leaders wax-critical on the Iraq War.

Nearly every speaker focused on the Bush administration’s saber rattling with regards to Iran. More specifically, they lambasted Senate Resolution 580, which calls for sanctions and a naval blockade against Iran— acts that would almost certainly be construed as a declaration of war.[96]

Meeting with Activists from September 24, 2010 FBI Raids

Raided activists comment on the meeting

On Nov. 5, 2010, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison held a meeting with five of the activists who were raided by the FBI in September. "While unclear about what legislative action he could take on their behalf, Ellison conveyed dismay with the raids." The activists encouraged Ellison to circulate a "Dear Colleague" letter to other members of the Progressive Caucus asking for support of an investigation of the FBI actions. "Ellison reminded them that he could not interfere with an ongoing investigation."[97]

"It was a reasonably good meeting. He certainly understands the seriousness of this and although political times are pretty horrible right now... he's gonna pursue doing a "dear colleague" letter with the progressive caucus... He kept saying of course, he can't stop this Grand Jury but he's gonna do everything he can. He met with us! This is Congressman Keith Ellison, and he met with us in person and gave us you know, a good time - which is - didn't happen at the Senator's office."

"[We asked Ellison to write] a "dear colleague" letter to Obama directly... He said that he's going to look into a "dear colleague" letter, and try to get other progressive people in Congress to sign onto it also."

Rep. Conyers (MI), chair of the Judiciary Committee, directed the Counsel of the Judiciary Committee to meet with the delegation. Also, Rep. Ellison (MN) and his Congressional staff met directly with the delegation for a significant amount of time. rep. Ellison sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing concern over the situation and is continuing to work on options to support his constituents affected. The delegation also received face-to-face meetings with Rep Gutierrez and Rep Davis from Chicago. Rep. Grijalva’s (AZ) office set up a meeting between the delegation and the Executive Director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Congress of which rep. Grijalva is the chair. In addition, the office of Jan Schakowsky (IL) and Maxine Waters (CA) gave the delegation significant time and attention.

“It was clear that progressive Representatives of the Congress are very concerned about the FBI investigation. Overall, they were very thankful for our visit and for the information and analysis given to them The level of awareness about the raids and grand jury was varied, from little to full awareness, but the delegation certainly changed that. After the two days, our presence and purpose definitely created a stir in the halls of Congress. “The fact that we were able to interact with 16 legislative aides or Congress people themselves, during an extremely busy time of restructuring leadership in the Congress, exemplifies the attention this matter is receiving”, stated Joe Iosbaker.[98]

Trump’s "Muslim ban" protest

Minneapolis, MN - On June 26 2018, over 600 protesters rallied at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis and then marched through downtown to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s Muslim ban. The rally was organized by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) as an emergency response to the Court’s 5-4 decision in Trump v. Hawaii.

Since being elected, President Trump has tried to implement his Muslim ban three times. Each time, thousands of Minnesotans have taken to the streets and to the airport to call Trump out on his attempt to put anti-Muslim bigotry into law.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR - Minnesota, started off the protest. “I am here today on land stolen from Native Americans. I am standing here today with still the fear, the anger, all the emotions that we have felt this week - in North Minneapolis with Thurman Blevins loss. I am here today with the same horrific feeling that we saw on the border of this nation when children were removed from their parents and put into child prisons. I am here today in solidarity with all of the struggles and know that many of us are reminded of this every single day. So, what I want to tell you today is they have come for the Muslims but they are coming for everybody. The Supreme Court today was wrong, and we have to say that!”

Speaker Tracy Molm, a member of the Anti-War Committee, explained the connection between Trump’s immigration policy and his foreign policy, “It is immoral for the Court to not see this ban for what it is – justification for a racist federal policy that attacks people from countries that the U.S. is bombing or threatening to bomb. We need to demand not only an end to the Muslim ban but to demand an end to U.S. drone strikes and special forces operations in Somalia, to an end to intervention in Syria, to war threats on North Korea and Iran and to threats to topple the government of Venezuela. Trump’s racist Muslim ban is directly related to his policy of expanding U.S. warfare and threats in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

Mohamud Mohamed, an organizer with the Young Muslims Collective, gave an impassioned speech: “If legality is a measure for morality for you then you’re doing it wrong. If every time we tell you that these things are eating at the heart of our community and are tearing us apart and you say ‘Well the state legislature passed it...I don’t know what to say’ or ‘your state rep or the mayor said it was ok’ or ‘Andrew Luger said it was moral’ ...legality can never be a measure of what is moral because we have seen what that does to our country. We’ve seen policies that have pursued that we have known for a fact are unethical and fly in the face of what it means to be human. And the only thing evil needs is the silence of good people.”

John Keller, executive director at the Immigrant Law Center, said, “Just Sunday, President Trump explained his preference that anyone arriving on the southern border should be deprived of access to a court and deprived access to due process. These are elements of a similar policy that represents intolerance and I believe it represents a clear and present threat to our democracy.”[99]

Populist Caucus

The Populist Caucus was founded on February 11, 2009 in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Bruce Braley of Iowa. The caucus originally included 26 other Democrats in the House, including Keith Ellison , vice chair.

2009 letter on Colombia

From November 6th through December 7th 2009, a letter calling for change in U.S. policy towards Colombia was circulated through the House of Representatives. This letter called for a decrease in U.S. aid for Colombia's military and an increase in support for human rights and humanitarian efforts. The initiators of this letter were —Representatives James McGovern, Jan Schakowsky, Donald Payne, and Mike Honda.

Dear Secretary of State Clinton,

The FY 2011 budget will contain the twelfth year of a major aid package to Colombia—an aid package originally slated to phase out after six years.

After eleven years, it is time to scale down assistance for Colombia's military and more systematically "Colombianize" such programs, within both the State Department and Defense Department budgets.

Colombian "Peace" process

In an historic action, 245 politicians from the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland have expressed their collective support for the Colombian peace process in a letter to both sides in the current negotiations, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - FARC. The politicians from the US Congress, UK Parliament, Irish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, many of whom supported the peace process in Northern Ireland and some of whom were directly involved, congratulate the two sides for having engaged in talks. In the letter, the signatories, from sixteen political parties, encourage the negotiating parties “to consider the possibility of a ceasefire and take the necessary measures to minimise the human cost of the conflict”, emphasising that for them “the only route to bring an effective and long-lasting peace to Colombia is through dialogue and compromise”. The letter expresses the hope that measures to guarantee the safety of civil society activists will be taken.

"God Willing... Border Will Become an Irrelevancy"

"No security policy position can be premised on military might. ...The way it works is we are a country guided by ideals of equity, generosity and engagement in our relations with other nations and those philosophical ideals create safe borders … and, God willing, one day the border will become an irrelevancy."

Also speaking at the conference was avowed Marxist Michael Lerner, editor of the pro-Palestinian Tikkun Magazine. According to an account of the conference by Baltimore Sun columnist Marta Mossburg, who attended the two-day event, Lerner compared tea party activists to Hitler at least five times. Another speaker at the Network of Spiritual Progressives event was Heather Booth, founder of the Midwest Academy, which teaches the community organizing tactics of radical Saul Alinsky.

Democratic Socialists of America ties

Michael Lerner

Keith Ellison's "vision of the politics of generosity and inclusion" came after meeting and talking with California Rabbi Michael Lerner.[103]

The mission of 21st Century Democrats is to build a "farm team" of progressive populists who will be the future leaders of the Democratic Party.

In each election cycle, we endorse a diverse array of candidates who exemplify our values and show unusual promise to advance our progressive goals. We invest in some of the most competitive races as well as in some of the most challenging – those in which the candidates are outstanding but the traditional Democratic supporters are most reticent. We back candidates in primaries as well as general election races, and we focus the bulk of our resources on electing challengers and protecting vulnerable incumbents.[104]

Economic Policy Institute

DSA support

After the Ellison Defeat: Continuing the Struggle Against the Neoliberal Democratic Party Establishment

Statement of the National Political Committee of Democratic Socialists of America, February 27, 2016;

This weekend the Democratic National Committee (DNC) failed to choose Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) for Chair of the DNC. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) backed Ellison’s election as part of a rebellion of progressive Democratic Party activists against a neoliberal Democratic Party national leadership that places corporate interests ahead of the interests of working people.

DSA understood that the Democratic Party establishment would use every tactic to oppose Ellison, including a whisper campaign that the party could not afford to have a Muslim as its party chair. DSA has serious doubts as to whether the Democratic Party can be transformed into a true party of the Left.

We also recognize, however, that many progressives rooted in labor, the feminist movement, immigrant communities, and Black, Latino, and other communities of color often use the Democratic ballot line for pragmatic reasons.

DSA viewed the Ellison campaign as just one small part of a broader struggle to develop a majoritarian politics – both at the ballot box and in the streets – that defends the interests of working people of all races, genders and nationalities against the super-rich and corporations.

The national Democratic Party’s pro-corporate, neoliberal leadership of the past several decades led not only to the victory of an openly racist, misogynist and Islamophobic fake populist as our current President; it also contributed to the loss of both Houses of Congress and Republican control of 68 out of 99 chambers in the country’s state legislatures.

DSA worked with a broad coalition of trade unions, Sanders campaign veterans, and Black, Latino, Asian-American and indigenous activists to elect Ellison chair of the DNC. The close nature of the race shows the growing strength of these social forces.

But even if Ellison had won, only the continued organization of a broad left coalition in the streets would have given him the leverage to take on the neoliberal, corporate fundraising and lobbying machine that dominates the national institutional leadership of the Democrats. That the Democrat establishment chose to mobilize against Ellison and the forces behind them shows their fear of the Left within and without the party.

DSA remains committed to building a mass movement to defend those rendered vulnerable by a Trump presidency and by Republican control of all three branches of government at the federal level and in 25 states. Such a coalition needs the backbone of a strong organized socialist presence within it and – crucially – a commitment to challenge and defeat neoliberal Democrats in primaries by running not only anti-corporate Democrats but explicitly democratic socialist candidates.

Ellison’s loss should not dispirit us. It reaffirms what we already knew. The circle of lobbyists, millionaires and billionaires that control the commanding heights of the Democratic Party won’t give up power willingly. And the way forward is for working people to build up independent bases of power, where they can come together, set their own agendas, win elections and create change on their own terms.

The disappointment of many Sanders activists with the neoliberal Democrats’ inability to defeat Donald Trump has led DSA to more than double in size from 8,000 to nearly 17,000 members in just the past fourteen weeks.

DSA remains committed to broadening out the post-Sanders trend into a multiracial majoritarian coalition for the democratic socialist alternative to both neoliberal capitalism and right-wing nationalism. The need for a political revolution is as pressing as ever.

Our Revolution endorsement

Keith Ellison was endorsed by Our Revolution, an organization run by former campaign workers and supporters of former socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.[112]

Progressive Democrats of America

Keith Ellison has close ties to Progressive Democrats of America, joining the Advisory Board in 2013. He has appeared at several PDA events including Progressive Central conferences and Progressive Round Tables. [113]

In the 113th Congress , some PDA-backed Democrats planned to introduce pieces of legislation that enjoy widespread support among the American left—but will, in all likelihood, be met with stiff opposition. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he would introduce a full employment act. Conyers will also again introduce a version of the so-called “Medicare-for-all” bill, which would create a single-payer universal healthcare system. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said he would introduce a constitutional amendment to affirm that corporations are not people, in addition to supporting a bill that would strengthen the Voting Rights Act. McGovern, like other PDA allies in Congress, also said that defense cuts would be a priority, telling the audience to rousing applause, “If I had my way, I would shut down every U.S. military base in the Middle East right now.” Moreover, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will introduce a bill, backed prominently by the National Nurses United union, to implement a tax on all financial transactions, the so-called Robin Hood tax.[116]

Relationship to Tim Carpenter

"The Progressive movement is driven by people, but it is only successful because of people like Tim Carpenter," said Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota, a PDA board member who got it right when he said, "Tim showed the kind of determination and courage that was contagious. His passionate idealism was matched only by his inexhaustible commitment to making those dreams a reality."

"Robin Hood" tax

April 7, 2014, (Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)DCNA’s Sandy Falwell joined Rev. Rodney Sadler, Rep. Keith Ellison, and Amanda Lugg and other activists at the U.S. Capitol last Friday to connect Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fight for economic justice with a tax on Wall Street to fund efforts to reverse inequality.

"The Inclusive Prosperity Act would make Dr. King proud," said Rep. Keith Ellison at a kick off press conference in Washington against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol.

"This is a holy day, a sacred day," Ellison continued. April 4 is a day America remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was on this day 46 years ago that he was assassinated, slain while in Memphis to provide support to city sanitation workers as part of a campaign for worker justice and to fight poverty.

And on this day in 2014 Rep. Ellison spoke of the Robin Hood Tax, embodied in his bill, H.R. 1579, a sales tax on Wall Street speculative trading that would create hundreds of billions of dollars a year in revenue for communities in need, a way to attain the economic equality Dr. King was seeking.

In Washington, William Lucy, president emeritus of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, who was with King in April, 1968, stood today outside the Capitol with Ellison remembering King and calling for passage of the Ellison Bill.

"The Inclusive Prosperity Act really is a vehicle to continue the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.," said Lucy. "The sanitation workers of Memphis wanted decency and dignity," he remembered. "Keith Ellison wants economic fairness. I applaud him."

In their brief remarks, the leaders issued a call to redirect money from wars, Wall Street and the rich to a rebuilding of America.

Jackson said war spending is "breaking our cities." He was seconded by Clarke who said the money we're spending in Afghanistan is ours, "it should come back to us."

Kaptor said we need to tax the financial giants asking, "Why can't we tax hedge funds like we do the corner bakery?"

Ellison emphasized that unity is required to win, saying being angry will not bring jobs but banding together, speaking together, and fighting together can. "We will use our strength in numbers to fight corporate greed," he said.

Conyers said we are "getting ready" to re-elect President Obama but we need the President to get behind job creating legislation like the Humphrey Hawkins jobs bill he has introduced.

"We are going to Washington to tell him we want him to lead in the fight for jobs. We will tell him we are ready to help," said Conyers.[123]

Restore the American Dream for the 99 Percent Act

Reps Grijalva and Ellison at the Capitol press conference

"Responding directly to national demand for a massive jobs program", members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, December 13, 2011, introduced the Restore the American Dream for the 99 Percent Act into the House of Representatives.

The bill would create more than 4 million jobs and reduce the deficit by more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years, making it the biggest government effort thus far to marshal the resources needed to address the economic crisis.

While no one expects the bill to pass in the Republican-controlled House, it is viewed by many as outlining what really must be done if the economy is to be restarted in a way that benefits the overwhelming majority of the population.

The bill would create several "corps" that will offer government jobs to the unemployed doing essential work including repairing school buildings, maintaining public parks, building neighborhood energy efficiency and conservation projects, and providing health care and other public services in underserved areas. One of the corps would be specifically devoted to re-hiring teachers and first responders laid off by cash-strapped state and local governments .

There are provisions in the bill that require 75 percent of the goods and services purchased by the federal government to be made in America, provisions designed to help small businesses get federal contracts, and allocation of $50 billion alone for highway, public transportation and electrical grid improvement projects.

The bill provides for tariffs in cases where what the lawmakers called "currency manipulation by China" results in "artificially driving down the cost of Chinese imports."

One clause in the bill protects both the long-term unemployed and wounded veterans from hiring discrimination.

The bill includes provisions that would raise $800 billion through a surcharge on millionaires and billionaires, end tax subsidies for oil companies, and impose a tiny financial transactions tax on Wall Street.

There would be other budget savings through ending the war in Afghanistan and slashing $200 billion from the defense budget by eliminating unneeded weapons systems and cutting in half the military forces currently stationed in Europe.

The bill also strengthens health care reform by creating a public health insurance option that would be available through health care exchanges. That measure alone, the lawmakers say, would drive down spending federal health care spending by $90 billion.

The bill would allow Medicare to bargain with pharmaceutical companies to get bulk discounts, a move blocked by Republicans in the past. Supporters say it would help save more than $150 billion.

To save Social Security benefits and trust fund, the legislation would raise the cap on earnings taxed by Social Security above its current $106,800.

"The Republicans want the people to think about how bad things are and to focus their anger on the president," said Grijalva "They don't want people to count the things the Republicans voted down that would have helped this country."

"This bill," said Ellison, "shows we can put people to work today by building for tomorrow."[124]

HR 365

HR 365 was introduced by Michigan Democratic Rep. Hansen Clarke, in 2011, in a YouTube video posted on the representative's page, he said "We need to cut, cap, and forgive student loan debt," and that "That is the true debt that is burdening American families. We cut student loan debt we'll have a freer more prosperous country."

Demos event

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 Demos, The American Prospect, and "our supporters celebrated our work over the past year. We also honored three incredible leaders who have advanced our vision of shared economic prosperity, inclusive democracy, and effective government. Thanks to all for helping us be at our best in this critical moment".

Anti-Fracking legislation endorser

On March 14, 2013, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) have introduced the Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effect (BREATHE) Act, and the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydraulic Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act, in order to ensure that the hydraulic fracking industry follows the same rules that other industries do in preserving our natural resources. This legislation is focused on ensuring the safety and the health of the communities where the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process is already taking place.

The BREATHE Act would ensure that we close the oil and gas industry’s loophole to the Clean Air Act’s aggregation provision, in addition to adding hydrogen sulfide—a chemical associated with nausea, vomiting, headaches, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat—to the Clean Air Act’s federal list of hazardous air pollutants.

Citizen Action honor

Friday, Sept. 20, 2013, Citizen Action Illinois held its Annual Dinner, honoring U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota's 5th District, Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus of the United States Congress.[128]

Immigration rally arrest

More than 20,000 people - including thousands of unionists -- who marched down the Washington, D.C., Mall on Oct. 8, 2013, to demand the U.S. House immediately pass comprehensive immigration reform. And 200, including 90 union leaders and union members and eight members of the House of Representatives were arrested when, in an act of civil disobedience, they blocked a street in front of the Capitol.

Voting rights for all

In May 2013, Mark Pocan and Keith Ellison unveiled a proposal to explicitly guarantee the right to vote in the Constitution.

“The right to vote is too important to be left unprotected,” explained Pocan, who announced the initiative at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, where the Republican state assembly speaker recently announced plans to enact restrictive “voter ID” legislation before the 2014 election. “At a time when there are far too many efforts to disenfranchise Americans, a voting rights amendment would positively affirm our founding principle that our country is at its strongest when everyone participates. As the world’s leading democracy, we must demand of ourselves what we demand of others—a guaranteed right to vote for all.”

Without that clear guarantee, argues Ellison, politicians continue to propose and enact legislation that impedes voting rights. Noting recent wrangling over voter identification laws, burdensome registration requirements and reduced early voting opportunities in various states, as well as a challenge to the Voting Rights Act that is now under consideration by the US Supreme Court, the Minnesota Democrat, who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says, “Even though the right to vote is the most-mentioned right in the Constitution, legislatures across the country have been trying to deny that right to millions of Americans, including in my home state of Minnesota. It’s time we made it clear once and for all: every citizen in the United States has a fundamental right to vote.”[130]

Lifting travel ban on Cuba

Due to your action/emails/phone calls we have 59 signatures from House representatives urging President Obama to support travel to Cuba by granting general licenses for ALL current categories of travel.

By eliminating the laborious license application process, especially for people-to-people groups, that is managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the majority of the bureaucratic red tape that holds up licensable travel to Cuba would disappear and actually facilitate what the President wanted to see in 2011, liberalized travel regulations.

Corporate Accountability

The Corporate Accountability Coalition is an alliance of organizations whose work includes a focus on issues of corporate accountability and transparency, abuse of power by corporations, responsible business practices, and the rights of people.

The report card is based on 17 actions (9 in the House and 8 in the Senate) that form a good litmus test of whether lawmakers are working for the narrow interests of large corporations or for all of us.

According to the Coalitions first-ever Congressional Report Card on Corporate Accountability issued in 2013, only two Representatives and four Senators scored higher than 87 percent. The top scores went to former Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) in the House and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Al Franken (D-MN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).[135]

JStreet Dinner

One hundred and sixty members of the Congress allowed their nam es to be listed as honorary hosts for the JStreet inaugural conference Gala Dinner on 27 October 2009. AIPAC then began calling them, sometimes
making threats against their reelection, to have them to withdraw their names. Twelve members of the Congress, mostly Republicans, withdrew their names. This was a victory for JStreet.

"Progressive Agenda"

BLM

Keith Ellison was thrown into another maelstrom when, in the fall of 2015, Minneapolis police shot and killed Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old unarmed black man, as he lay handcuffed on the ground. After Black Lives Matter protesters began an occupation at the fourth police precinct headquarters, Ellison flew home to meet with them. At first, he backed the encampment. With the city on edge, he moved easily between different groups, negotiating a meeting between Clark’s family and the Democratic governor, Mark Dayton.

For more than a week, Ellison hung with the BLM organizers, even as the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a photo of Ellison’s middle son, Jeremiah Ellison, with his hands up while a policeman pointed a gun in his direction. (Ellison called the photo “agonizing.”) But after a white man opened fire* on the mostly black protesters, injuring five people, Ellison finally broke with the demonstrators and supported the mayor’s call to relocate the encampment for public safety. Debating with activists on Twitter, he insisted he was merely proposing a change in tactics; the goal had stayed the same. Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds, filling the role Ellison once played of the organizer chipping away at the system from the outside, dismissively referred to him as “the old guard,” and protesters held signs calling him a “sellout.” When Ellison showed up at a North Minneapolis community meeting to explain himself, Levy-Pounds refused to give him the floor and Ellison left without speaking. “It was essentially the establishment versus the community,” Levy-Pounds says.[140]

Congressmembers call on Obama to rescind Venezuela sanctions

May 15, 2015, Sixteen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter calling on President Obama to withdraw sanctions on seven Venezuelan government officials, and also to withdraw the language of an executive order justifying the sanctions.

The sanctions to which the letter refers were based on legislation voted by Congress in December and signed by the president on Dec. 18. On Mar. 9, after the arrest of several Venezuelan political figures whom Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused of plotting a coup, President Obama issued an executive order declaring an "emergency" on the basis of a supposed "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States and its interests by Venezuela, and imposed the sanctions, mostly on mid-level security personnel.

The sanctions prevent them from traveling to the United States and freeze any assets they might have in this country.

Populism 2015

Populism 2015 was held in April 2015, at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel, Washington DC.

Plenary: "Advancing a Populist Agenda that Puts People and Planet First".

This plenary will unveil the Populism2015 Agenda that outlines what we need to win in the next 10 years to put people and planet before profit and polluters. A bold agenda means we invest deeply in building our power at the scale of the crises we face, shifting the landscape of public debate toward our story of what’s broken and how to fix it, and taking on new campaigns to build the world we want instead of tinkering around the edges of the old economy and a broken democracy.

Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church/Cuba

Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church has long been connected to Cuba. January 11th 2015 there was a free concert at the church by Cuban-American jazz pianist Nachito Herrera.

Before the start of the concert itself, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison made brief remarks. He said that President Obama’s December 17th announcement of the historic changes in the relationship of the two countries demonstrated the importance of persistence and hope for all who have been urging such changes for many years, as had most of the people in the audience. He congratulated us for having this persistence and hope. This lesson also was demonstrated, he said, by the current movie, “Selma,” which the Congressman recently had seen with his children. His parting injunction to us all: now we all need to keep the pressure on Congress to end the embargo and support the reconciliation.

Nachito Herrera was introduced by Rev. Dr. Timothy Hart-Andersen, Senior Pastor, who said our church has had a partnership with Nachito. We take things to his family in Cuba on some of our mission trips, and Nachito plays music at our church. Implicitly Tim was saying the church had the better part of that understanding.

To a capacity-crowd in our Great Hall, Nachito played Cuban music with great passion. He also told us that he was surprised and overjoyed by the December 17th news of the historic change in the two countries’ relationship and wanted to celebrate this important change by sharing his music with Westminster, which he regarded as part of his family. He also was very happy with the U.S. release from prison of the remaining three members of the Cuban Five, and in recognition of this event he returned his “Free the Cuban Five” button to two members of the Minnesota Cuba Committee, Prof. August Nimtz, and Frank Curbelo.

Nachito Herrera concluded the concert by saying that he and his wife (Aurora Gonzalez) recently had become U.S. citizens and by playing a beautiful jazzy rendition of “America the Beautiful.”[144]

ARA PAF endorsement, 2014

2015 ARA National Legislative Conference

400 activists came to Washington, DC for the Alliance for Retired Americans’s 2015 National Legislative Conference in July . The activists reached more than 150 offices on Thursday’s Lobby Day, when they met with their Members of Congress and Senators and voiced their concerns about retiree issues. Alliance members lobbied their elected officials with very specific goals in mind, including: expand earned Social Security benefits; protect Social Security Disability Insurance; preserve Medicare and allow no cuts to it; and oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Agreement.

Local Progress

On the Tuesday of the Democratic national Convention, 2016, a small group of elected officials from around the country gathered at the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia. The meeting was hosted by four leadership organizations, including Local Progress, a coalition of local officials organized around pushing progressive legislation at the local level. The theme of the morning was Local Progress' organizing principle: Regardless of what goes on at the federal level, municipalities have tremendous power to make meaningful change.

"All politics really is local," Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison told the group, that the Bernie protesters making their presence known this week, Ellison argued, should not be seen as a problem by members of the Democratic Party. "They're actually helping us," he argued. "The change that they are demanding and giving energy to, you can give voice to."

Mindy Isser, an organizer born and raised in Philadelphia, also spoke about the importance of labor organizing in the wake of the Democratic primary. "To build off the Sanders campaign, to build off the movement that we've been seeing everywhere, we need our unions to be more left-wing and we need rank-and-file members to be politicized," says Isser. She works on campaigns around public education and housing, and while she thinks that a progressive councilmember like Philadelphia's Helen Gym is a positive development for the city's politics, it's not nearly enough. She speaks of the importance of not only running more left-leaning candidates, but also "moving powerful people more left" after they take office.

"It's good to be skeptical of local elected officials," says Joe Dinkin, the national communications director for the Working Families Party. "That's the only way we can hold them accountable."

"Holding elected office is not the only way to make justice," Representative Ellison reminded the crowd at Local Progress. "Martin Luther King, Jr. never held office. My man Van Jones never held public office. It's not the only way to make change. But we know that it's a way to make change." As progressives move forward from the DNC, it's a good reminder that, often, the work taking place wholly outside of the convention hall has the greatest power to make change on the ground.[148]

2016 Platform Drafting Committee

Bernie Sanders supporters Dr. Cornel West and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will be among those on the Democratic Party's important Platform Drafting Committee after the Vermont senator won a key concession as he looks to leave his mark on the party's platform.

The roster of the drafting committee, released by the Democratic National Committee May 2016, reflects the party's agreement that Sanders would have five supporters on the committee, compared to six for Hillary Clinton.

Sanders previously panned DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who appoints all of the committee members, for failing to include enough of his supporters on an initial list. But the latest statement notes that Wasserman Schultz allocated the campaign's seats "proportionally according to the current vote tally."

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, who has endorsed Clinton, will lead the committee and called Sanders's outsized role on the platform "pretty unusual" for a candidate that likely will not be the party's nominee during a Monday interview on MSNBC. And California Rep. Barbara Lee, who has not endorsed either candidate.

Funding for Colombia

March 28, 2016 Washington, D.C. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), and 14 of their House colleagues sent a letter to key House Appropriations Committee members asking them to fully fund President Barack Obama’s budget request for aid to Colombia.

Last month, President Obama announced a new aid package totaling $450 million for FY 2017 to assist the Colombian government in implementing a potential peace deal with the FARC guerillas after more than fifty years of violent conflict in the country. The funding would also support Colombia’s efforts to address security challenges including the threat of violent drug cartels.

“Now, just as the peace process is beginning to bear fruit, is not the time to reduce our financial assistance to our ally and partner,” the group wrote in a letter to Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), who serves as the subcommittee’s ranking member. “After decades of equipping Colombia to fight, we have a vested interest in helping the Colombian people to rebuild. We must continue the robust, bipartisan support which, at long last, has brought Colombia to the precipice of peace.”

Letter on US-Mexico security Co-operation

Urgent alert from our friends at CISPES- Los Angeles Chapter : "The US plans to expand cooperation between Mexico and the United States to unfairly and inhumanely target Central American migrants and asylum seekers at the upcoming "Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America".

We asked Representative Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach to author a letter to Secretary Tillerson calling for to put the human rights of Central Americans and all migrants and refugees front and center, and he's circulating a letter now. To have the biggest impact possible we need as many Members of Congress as possible to sign this letter!

Call or email your representative today and ask them to join Mr. Lowenthal as a co-signer.

Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) led 37 Members of Congress, including top Democrats from the Armed Forces, Judiciary and Appropriations committees, in sending a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to raise red flags about “suggestions that the United States deepen security collaboration with Mexico along its southern border [with Guatemala] due to evidence that Mexico’s Southern Border Program has led to wide-spread human rights violations and abuses against migrants and asylum-seekers.”

Housing Meeting with Julian Castro and former SWP Comrade

October 30th, 2015 Keith Ellison speaking at public forum in Minneapolis on Affordable housing, with former HUD chief Julian Castro and St. Paul Vice President Yusef Mgeni (labeled) Photo via turtleroad.org

Decades later, in October 2015, Yusef Mgeni became the St. Paul NAACP vice president, where he was featured with his old comrade Keith Ellison in a panel discussion about housing that additionally included then-Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.[156]

SAALT Congressional Briefing on Hate Violence

March 23, 2017, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a national South Asian civil rights organization, held a Congressional briefing to address the uptick in hate violence nationwide and highlight recommendations for change, as outlined in our recent report, “Power, Pain, Potential.” SAALT was joined by eight members of Congressional leadership and community partners in an urgent discussion on combatting the surge in hate violence aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Arab, and Middle Eastern Americans across the country.

“As President Trump continues to test fire Muslim bans, this administration appears intent on intensifying efforts to ignore and provoke hate violence,” stated Suman Raghunathan, Executive Director of SAALT. “The President has a sworn duty to protect the rights and safety of all Americans. Today’s briefing with Congressional leaders is an important step in making sure President Trump doesn’t escape his responsibilities.”

Our communities have experienced devastating violence in recent months, including deadly shootings in Kansas and Washington State, numerous arson attacks and vandalism of mosques, businesses, and homes nationwide, and mounting fear by our communities across the country.

“SAALT stands ready to work with Congressional leaders to fight hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric impacting our communities across the country,” stated Ms. Raghunathan. “South Asian Americans are the most rapidly growing demographic group, and we are committed to policies at all levels that reinforce the place our communities have in our nation now and as we continue to grow.”

Staff changes

May 8, 2017 Press Release Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement announcing Kari Moe will step down as Chief of Staff and that Donna Cassutt will take over:

"When I was first elected to Congress, many of my friends and colleagues said the one thing I had to do was hire a great Chief of Staff. For more than 10 years, Kari has been more than great. She has been irreplaceable. Her experience working for two of my personal heroes, Senator Paul Wellstone, and Mayor Harold Washington, assured that she would bring a commitment to progressive values, activism, and organizing skill. Kari has exceeded all expectations in her role as lead staffer for my office. She has, perhaps more than anyone, shaped my Congressional career. She has helped us serve the 5th Congressional District, advance our policy agenda, and build the work of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. We have worked together every step of the way and I have appreciated her leadership. I will miss her and know she will continue to advance our agenda in her future work with young leaders.

"With Donna Cassutt stepping in as my new Chief of Staff, my office will continue to advance our commitment to the politics of generosity and inclusion. Like Kari, Donna brings a history of organizing and activism, previously serving as the Executive Director of Minnesotans for a Fair Economy and the Associate Chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Her deep ties to Minnesota and knowledge of fighting for working people means that Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District will continue seeing the level of representation and service they are accustomed to. I am excited that she will be joining my DC Office and I look forward to her leadership.

"I’m also proud to announce that District Director Jamie Long will be promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff. Previously serving as Legislative Director and then District Director, Jamie has been an indispensable member of my team. We have one of the most active District Offices in Congress, and Jamie has made sure we are in constant communication with constituents and responsive to their needs. I know he will bring the same work ethic and passion to this expanded role."[158]

"Anti-trans violence resolution"

Ellison said in a statement Monday the Transgender Day of Remembrance “takes on even more significance” in 2017 as a result of the significant rate of violence against transgender people.

“We also recognize that the victims of this violence are almost all transgender women and transgender women of color,” Ellison said. “This is an important day, but we should not consider our jobs done because we’ve observed this one day. Instead, we must commit ourselves to the principle of liberty and justice for all and ensure everyone is safe to live and thrive in their community.”

Ellison’s resolution observes transgender women of color are more likely than white transgender women to face mistreatment by police, an assumption they’re sex workers and incarceration in prison.

Among other things, the resolution calls for ending racial profiling in law enforcement practices; ending the practice of placing transgender people in solitary confinement; and ending the practice of immigration detention for vulnerable populations, including transgender people.

teve Phillips friend

Racist President

2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force repeal

Today, after nearly 17 years, the Democratic Party adopted a resolution I submitted calling for the repeal of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). I was proud to have our DNC and progressive leaders sign on as co-sponsors, including my good friend DNC Deputy Chair Congressman Keith Ellison, DNC Vice-Chair Congresswoman Grace Meng, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Our Revolution Board Chairman Larry Cohen, Chair of Hawaii Democrats Timothy Vandeveer, and nearly 20 other co-sponsors. It is past time for Congress to have a debate and #VoteOnWar.

Passed only three days after the attacks of 9/11, the 2001 AUMF has given three administrations expansive and endless war-making powers without consulting Congress. This is an abdication of Congress’ constitutional duties. I am heartened that the Democratic Party recognizes the dangers of using an outdated war authority and is calling on all Democratic members in Congress to support bipartisan efforts to repeal the 2001 AUMF.

Sanders support

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will make campaign swing through Kansas starting July 20 2018, rallying for two congressional candidates who argue that left-wing politics are the key to winning in red states.

“I’ve believed for years that the Democratic Party has committed political malpractice by writing off half the states in this country,” said Sanders in an interview, as he campaigned in Minnesota for Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). “They’ve got to fight for every state in this country.”[160]